The present invention relates to wireless transmitters for vehicles and more particularly to a passive garage door opener for vehicles which uses the vehicle""s collision avoidance system.
Most new homes built are being constructed with garage door openers with remote controllers using RF wireless technology. Many existing homes are also being upgraded with garage door openers using RF wireless technology for accomplishing the remote function. The current trend in the automotive market is to provide new vehicles with factory installed universal garage door opener transmitters. Passive garage door transmitters have been proposed which do not require the user to manually actuate the transmitter.
Collision avoidance systems are beginning to gain acceptance, and consequently, being incorporated into vehicles. Several different types of collision avoidance systems have been proposed, such as blind spot detection, rear-end collision avoidance and back-up warning systems. All of these collision avoidance systems include sensors to detect the presence of objects, detect relative speed of objects and/or detect positions of objects.
The present invention provides a vehicle wireless transmitter system including a collision avoidance sensor generating a signal based upon detection of an object in an area adjacent the vehicle. A wireless transmitter generates a wireless signal based upon the signal from the collision avoidance sensor.
The system includes a passive arming system which arms the system when it determines that the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the associated receiver. When the system is armed, the collision avoidance sensor monitors the proximity of the vehicle to a garage door. When the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of the garage door as determined by the collision avoidance sensor, the wireless transmitter sends the wireless signal to open the garage door.
The collision avoidance sensors monitor the movement of the vehicle into the garage and determine when the vehicle is in the garage. When the vehicle is in the garage and the engine is not running, the collision avoidance sensors monitor movement around the vehicle. When there is no movement around the vehicle for a predetermined period of time, the wireless transmitter generates a wireless signal closing the garage door.